Publications and Presentations
Aesthetics of the Commons
We are very happy to present our book "Aesthetics of the Commons" as the latest outcome of our research project. Read More
Aesthetics, Commons and the Production of the Subject: An Interview with Cornelia Sollfrank and Felix Stalder
We discuss the potential and meanings of the digital commons in creating new subjectivities and new imaginaries on and off the internet. Read More
Book Launch “Aesthetics of the Commons”
We are very happy to announce the launch of our book "Aesthetics of the Commons", online via Depot in Vienna.
Tuesday, 9 March, 7 pm ( CET) Read More
OPEN SCORES. How to Program the Commons. Exhibition catalogue
Documentation of the exhibition that took place at panke.gallery in Berlin 21 September – 12 October 2019 Read More
New home for the “Temporary Library for Creating Commons”
The "Temporary Library for Creating Commons" is now available at MIZ, the library of Zurich University of the Arts. Read More
OPEN SCORES. How to program the Commons
21 Sept. – 12 Oct. 2019
panke.gallery, Berlin
16 practices through which artists articulate their own forms of (digital) commons. Read More
panke.gallery, Berlin
16 practices through which artists articulate their own forms of (digital) commons. Read More
What Can We Learn from the Commons? Aesthetic Practices of Learning and Unlearning
Joint learning – and unlearning – is one of the essential resources of digital commons. Read More
Furtherfield — imitation is of little use to commonists.
Investigating the role connection to a place in Furtherfield's "pre-mitative" practice of commoning. Read More
Learning from Pirate Libraries
Lecture by Cornelia Sollfrank at Universität für angewandte Kunst Wien, /ecm diskurs, Vienna, 8th of November 2019 Read More
Feminist Server – Visibility and Functionality
Digital Infrastructure as a Common Project. Shusha Niederberger, Springerin 04/2019. Read More
From Participation to Appropriation
Putting the focus on the appropriation of a shared resource opens up a different horizon on artistic practice. Read More
OPEN SCORES – How to Program the Commons
Zur Ausstellung Open Scores und den künstlerischen Formen von (digitalen) Commons. Springerin 2019 Heft 4. Read More
Unlearning Copyright in Artistic Practice
Lecture by Shusha Niederberger at Zurich University of the Arts, MFA Symposium „HOW TO: Copy Paste and Rights“, 20.11.2019 Copyright Read More
Creating Commons: Netz-Projekte als digitale Allmende
Radiosendung von Markus Metz, Sonntag, 20.10.2019, 22:05 bis 23:00 Uhr. BAYERN 2, Zündfunk Generator.Diese Sendung zum Nachhören unter: www.bayern2.de/zuendfunkAls Podcast Read More
Exhibition Opening
Sat. 21 Sept. 2019, 19:00
Performances by Johannes Kreidler, Alison Knowles, DJ Gigsta and DJ ROLUX-FOX Read More
Performances by Johannes Kreidler, Alison Knowles, DJ Gigsta and DJ ROLUX-FOX Read More
Study Night: Artistic Practices of Commoning
Study Night: Artistic Practices of Commoning with Felix Stalder, Cornelia Sollfrank and Shusha Niederberger at Archipelago Lab der Leuphana Universität, Lüneburg. Read More
Four theses on cultural commons
This is an edited version of a presentation given at the "TCS Philosophy & Literature Conference 2019" (29 May - Read More
Artistic Shadow Libraries
First results of our research are presented as part of the festival Find the File @ HKW, Berlin. Read More
Affects, Collectives, and Aesthetics. Panel at Transmediale 2019, Berlin
At transmediale, we hosted a panel discussion with Jeremy Gilbert (University of East London), Gary Hall (Coventry University) Laurence Rassel Read More
Artistic Shadow Libraries
Presentation by Cornelia Sollfrank at the workshop “Archives – Find the File”, Beirut, Nov 28th – 29th 2018. Venue: Goethe Institut Libanon Read More
The Surplus of Copying. How Shadow Libraries and Pirate Archives Contribute to the Creation of Cultural Memory and the Commons
Digital artworks tend to have a problematic relationship with the white cube. This text takes the exhibition "Top Tens" (Onassis Cultural Center in Athens, March 2018) as a starting point for a closer look at UbuWeb and the role an artistic approach can play in building cultural memory within the neoliberal knowledge economy. Read More
Feministische Perspektiven auf digitale ästhetische Praktiken. Brown Bag Lecture
In den Research Meetings zeigte sich, dass neben der digitalen Kultur der Feminismus eine zweite zentrale Referenz darstellt. Beide berühren ein
verändertes Verhältnis von Produktion und Reproduktion. Davon ausgehend werden digitale ästhetische Praktiken und die damit verbundenen Institutionen neu gedacht und experimentell gelebt. Read More
From a copyright-critical practice to commons research
Pirating Presence – Eine Aneignung der Aneignung Samstag, 28. Juli 2018 um 16.00 UhrVorträge von der Künstlerin und Forscherin Cornelia Read More
From Creative Commons to Creating Commons
Using the framework of the commons, this article focuses on artistic projects which experiment with the development of their own forms of social production and circulation. Read More
Von Creative Commons zu Creating Commons
Die Theorie der Commons bietet eine produktive Perspektive auf aktuelle künstlerische Projekte, die mit der Entwicklung eigener Formen sozialer Produktion und Zirkulation experimentieren. Read More
“The surplus of sharing cannot be recycled into further growth”
Interview with media theoretician and philosopher Wolfgang Suetzl on sharing, digital abundance and excess. Read More
Nothing New Needs to be Created
A critical examination of Kenneth Goldsmith's claim that, today, archiving and writing have become the same. Sollfrank asks, "what might be the function of such a bold assertion – even if it cannot be substantiated?"
Read More
Art & Speculative Commons (lecture announcement)
In her lecture, German artist Cornelia Sollfrank will give an introduction to the concept of the commons, however, putting an Read More
Giving What You Don’t Have (springerin Interview)
In a conversation with Felix Stalder, Cornelia Sollfrank provides background information on her current research project Giving What You Don't Have – a project that explores ideas of peer-to-peer production and distribution in the art context. Read More
Zum Stand der Commons
In einem Gespräch mit Krystian Woznicki (Berliner Gazette) lotet Felix Stalder das aktuelle Interesse an der Theorie und Praxis der Commons aus. Read More
Commons, informational (Dictionary Entry)
For the first time, a major English language social science reference work contains the term 'commons'. Entry into the Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology (2017) by Felix Stalder.
We take it as a sign of the times that,
Read More
Research Meetings and Projects
Research Meeting 1: “Archives and Libraries”
Report of the first research meeting which brought together artists, researchers and theoreticians for an intense 2 day workshop dealing with shadow libraries, repositories and archives. Read More
Research Meeting 2: Commoning the Institution
Report of the second research meeting which brought together artists and activists from cultural and educational institutions with researchers and theorists for thinking together about institutions and commoning. Read More
Research Meeting 3: Tools and Infrastructures
Report of the third (and last) research meeting, where a group of artists, activists, designers, theorists and researchers gathered to discuss the role and dynamics of tools and infrastructures. Read More
Panayotis Antoniadis and Mazi & Nethood
Nethood Nethood is a Zurich based non-proft organization working on and with communities, cooperations on tools and infrastructure for community-driven Read More
Femke Snelting
Femke Snelting works as artist and designer, developing projects at the intersection of design, feminism, and free software. In various Read More
Michel Murtaugh and Active Archives
“An Active Archive is not a black box with a Download button, it is information reconfigured.“ Active Archives is an Read More
Eva Weinmayr and AND Publishing
AND Publishing is an alternative publishing initiative based in London. It was founded by Lynn Harris and Eva Weinmayr in Read More
Spideralex and feminist infrastructures
Spideralex is a sociologist and holds a doctorate in social economy. She is the founder of the catalan cyberfeminist collective Read More
Tactical Technology Collective, Berlin
Tactical Tech provides information, tools and knowledge for activists, technologists and engaged citizens on the use of information technology. Read More
Mz Baltazar’s Laboratory, Vienna
Mz Baltazar’s Laboratory is a trans*feminist collective of artists and researchers, founded 2008 in Vienna. Read More
furtherfield, London
Furtherfield is an artist run space founded in 1996 by Ruth Catlow and Marc Garret in London. Read More
Dock18 – Institut für Medienkulturen, Zurich
Dock18 is a cultural organisation founded 2005 in Zurich. Read More
memory of the world
Memory of the World is a network of interconnected shadow libraries, each maintained locally and independently from the others. Read More
Interviews and Lectures
Buen Vivir. Interview with Penny Travlou on collaborative practices in emerging networks.
Framed by her long-standing research on collaborative practices, geographer and ethnographer Penny Travlou introduces two projects she has been involved Read More
Thick Webs & Continuous Relays: Feminist Epistemologies for the Digital Commons
Recordings of the lecture by Isabel de Sena, 11 October 2019, panke.gallery Berlin. Read More
Film as digital object
Recording of the conversation between Sebastian Lütgert and Cornelia Lund, 27 September 2019, panke.gallery Berlin. Read More
Institutional Practice: Interview with Peter Westenberg
Peter Westenberg is an artist and a member of Constant, an artist-run organization in Brussels, active in art and technology. Read More
Forms of Ongoingness, Interview with Femke Snelting and spideralex
Femke Snelting develops projects at the intersection of design, feminisms and free software. In various constellations, she has been exploring Read More
Networking Institutions. Interview with Z. Blace
Z. Blace is one of the founders of Multimedia Institut / MaMa in Zagreb. In this interview, he gives an Read More
Hybrid Spaces. Interview with Panayotis Antoniadis
Panayotis Antoniadis is one of the founders of NetHood, a non-profit organization based in Zurich concerned with bridging the digital Read More
The Micropolitics of Publishing. Interview with Eva Weinmayr
Eva Weinmayr is an artist, designer, educator, and researcher based in London. Her long-standing engagement with digital and print publishing Read More
Negotiating Space in Culture and Technology. Interview with Ruth Catlow and Marc Garrett.
Ruth Catlow and Marc Garrett are the co-founders of furtherfield, an artist-led organisation and community platform located in Finsbury Park, Read More
Working with the Paradoxes of Technology, Interview with Marek Tuszynski
In this interview, Marek Tuszynski, one of the two co-founders of Tactical Tech, explains what the goals of their non-profit Read More
Caring for the Public Library, Interview with Marcell Mars & Tomislav Medak
Marcell Mars (researcher and programmer) & Tomislav Medak (philosopher) work together on the project Memory of the World. They use Read More
Expanding Cinema, Interview with Sebatian Lütgert & Jan Gerber
Sebastian Lütgert & Jan Gerber are two artists and programmers who developed the movie database 0xdb and its underlying software Read More
From Notepad to Cultural Resource. The Aesthetics of Crosslinking at Monoskop, Interview with Dušan Barok
Dušan Barok is a researcher, artist and cultural activist based in Amsterdam. His practice involves networked media, participatory events, and Read More
The Practice of Sharing Knowledge, Interview with Sean Dockray
Sean Dockray is an artist and initiator of the knowledge-sharing platforms The Public School and aaaaarg. aaaaarg is an online Read More
Commoning Infrastructures. Promises, challenges, and the role of art. Lecture by Daphne Dragona
Cultural scientist and curator Daphne Dragona talks about alternative community-based network systems and the role art can play in their development. Read More
Feminist Hackspace. Interview with Patricia Reis and Stephanie Wuschitz
Patricia Reis and Stefanie Wuschitz are the founders and members of the trans*feminist hackspace Mz* Baltazars Laboratory, Vienna in Vienna. Read More
Crowd Benefits. Interview with Mauricio O’Brian
Mauricio O’Brian is a co-founder of Goteo.org, a crowdfunding platform foregrounding collective return. The platform was founded in 2011 and Read More
Ecosystems of Writing. Interview with Michael Murtaugh
Michael Murtaugh on active archives and publishing tools, software practice in the context of art and commoning. Read More
Publishing as Commons Practice, Interview with Alessandro Ludovico
Alessandro Ludovico is the co-founder of neural, a printed magazine established in 1993 dealing with new media art, electronic music, Read More
Producing Organizational Aesthetics, Interview with Olga Goriunova
Dr. Olga Goriunova (1977, Ulan-Ude, UdSSR) is a cultural theorist, philosopher, and curator with a focus on digital art and Read More
Experimenting with Institutional Formats, Interview with Laurence Rassel
Laurence Rassel is a cultural worker who can act as a curator, teacher, organizer. She is currently based in Brussels. Read More
Laurence Rassel: Rethinking the Art School
“Institution, instituted, instituting, common, commoning.”
Talk by Laurence Rassel, 1 March 2018, HeK (House of Electronic Arts Basel). Read More
Talk by Laurence Rassel, 1 March 2018, HeK (House of Electronic Arts Basel). Read More
Olga Goriunova: Next few years of art and commons: on idiosyncratic learners and radical lurkers
Cultural theorist, philosopher, and curator Olga Goriunova focus in her talk on the radical differences between the first 15 years Read More
The Poetry of Archiving, Interview with Kenneth Goldsmith
Interview by Cornelia Sollfrank, 2013. Read More